This Incredible Plane: Transavia PL-12 Airtruk

Then suddenly, out of the sky, swooped a most bizarre-looking flying machine. It was short, stubby, very tall, and had two wings and two tails. Much to my surprise, this weird craft was actually a very successful crop duster in the Australian Outback, and the only modifications that the special effects team made consisted of a coat of black paint and a healthy dose of visual wear and tear. 

This incredible plane is none other than the Transavia PL-12 Airtruk, and the story of how it came to be is every bit as interesting as the plot line of the film.

The Airtruk’s path to movie stardom began in faraway New Zealand in the mid 1950s. The search was on for a versatile aircraft to fulfill the role of a crop duster or, as the Kiwis might say, a “topdresser.” Enter Italian designer Luigi Pellarini, who had already designed and constructed an elegant and workable flying car, the PL-2 Aerauto, struggled in the depressed postwar Italian economy, and had relocated Down Under. 

His first design for the topdresser mission, the PL-7, was meant to take advantage of the plentiful military surplus engines and airframe parts available on the postwar open market. 

Pellarini’s design dispensed with conventional thinking. Instead of adding a large hopper to a conventional airframe, he built his plane around a large barrel-shaped tank. The tank formed the center fuselage. To that he added wings and tail, and placed the pilot behind all this. 

The unique twin tails completed this one-of-a-kind design and became the signature feature of the entire line. Noting that the application of fertilizer and other chemicals often corroded a conventional tail, Pellarini simply attached two tail booms that each carried its own horizontal stabilizer and elevator. While these acted as one, they were not joined at the center. This feature also allowed the truck that contained the chemicals to be backed between the twin tails for loading, away from the spinning propeller. 

The completed PL-7 was a nearly 5,000-pound biplane powered by a 400 hp engine from a surplus Avro Anson twin-engine trainer. It was soon followed by a monoplane variant, the PL-11, which sported a 600 hp Pratt & Whitney radial yet retained the signature twin tails. The pilot moved from behind the hopper to the top of it. 

Unfortunately, neither design found a production order, so Pellarini returned to Australia and designed the PL-12 Airtruk. The PL-12 retained the high-mounted pilot seat and added seats for three passengers, one behind the pilot and two behind the large hopper. This more modest design featured a 6-cylinder, 285 hp Continental—actually a Rolls-Royce-licensed version of the IO-520. The PL-12 sported two little stub wings below the strut-braced main wing structure.

The fuselage is 9 feet tall, just about even with the top of the twin rudders. The entire fuselage, containing the cabins and tank for the liquid or dry fertilizer, is barely 10 feet long and very narrow—it has the appearance of a large goldfish with wings and a twin tail. 

As you might expect, the landing gear is quite sturdy and draggy. This whole assemblage of shapes, surfaces, and protuberances cruises at a little less than 100 knots. Of course, speed is not the goal of this kind of aircraft. The Airtruk can lift nearly 200 gallons (or 2,000 pounds) of dry chemicals all day long and land on rough outback strips very near the job site. 

This final version of Pellarini’s design, the PL-12 Airtruk, was a bonafide success. Nearly 140 of these sturdy, functional, and safe crop dusters were manufactured by the Transavia Corporation between 1966 and 1993. Many found their way to Denmark, Spain, and Indonesia. And, of course, Pellarini’s design was modified over time and marketed under the name Skyfarmer, as well as Airtruk. The latest version of the line, the Skyfarmer T-400, featured the mighty Lycoming 8-cylinder 400 hp IO-720 engine as well as several design and safety improvements, and increased gross weight. 

A PL-12 U (for utility) variant was adapted for air ambulance, surveying, and general passenger and cargo transport. A PL-12 MIL (military version) was designed for forward air control and light attack. And there were even plans to hang the ubiquitous Pratt & Whitney PT6A turbine on the nose to increase the Airtruk’s performance. 

What is it like to fly this unique looking little beast? A pilot report featured in Smithsonian magazine characterized the Transavia PL-12 as fun to fly, rugged, and safe. Even though it’s a bit sluggish and slow in cruise, the Airtruk is said to be quite maneuverable, and several crop dusters will attest to its crash survivability. The central high-mounted seating position provides excellent visibility, and the unique twin tail booms provide a safe place for the ground crew to refill the hopper, well away from the spinning propeller. 

As you might expect, agricultural aircraft are often ridden hard and put away wet, as they say. Thus, out of the 138 produced, only a handful remain in private hands. Most are in collections, but a few are working the fields today. And the Airtruk has found a new role—maybe due to its appearance in the 1985 Mad Max movie, the Airtruk became a popular airshow act. Sorry, no fancy aerobatics, but this unique little plane delighted audiences with its maneuverability, low and slow hijinks, and unique appearance. 

Next time channel surfing, you might give Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome a second look. Aside from an amazing performance by the indomitable Tina Turner and Mel Gibson reprising his role, the real star of the show just might be this incredible plane, the Transavia PL-12 Airtruk.